The Complete USD to PRC/U3D Conversion Guide.
Table of Contents
- General Information
- Converting and Optimizing USD Files to PRC/U3D
- What are USD and PRC/U3D files commonly used for?
- Comparison of Features Supported by USD and PRC/U3D
- Limitations of USD Files to PRC/U3D Conversion Workflow
- What's the best way to get USD files into my 3D applications, and are there alternatives to using PRC/U3D?
General Information
This guide is part of the RapidPipeline 3D Formats Knowledge Database. It shows how to convert USD to PRC/U3D, if you'd like to know more about the formats, please check out the following links:
Converting and Optimizing USD Files to PRC/U3D
There are various ways to convert between USD and PRC/U3D. With RapidPipeline, you can easily convert and and optimize USD files, at scale. It supports PRC/U3D, as well as many other file formats (examples: FBX, glTF, OBJ, PLY, STL, USDZ, VRM), at high quality.
Below you can find a video explaining how to convert your files:

Comparison of Features Supported by USD and PRC/U3D
Feature | Supported by USD | Supported by PRC/U3D |
---|---|---|
Morph Targets | Yes | Partial0 |
Rigid Animations | Yes | Yes |
Skinned Animations | Yes | Partial1 |
Animations | Yes | Yes |
Free-Form Surfaces | Yes | Yes |
Geometry Compression | No | Yes |
Quad Meshes | Yes | Yes |
Basic 3D Geometry | Yes | Yes |
PBR Materials | Yes | No |
Transparent Materials | Yes | Yes |
Vertex Colors | Yes | Yes |
Materials | Yes | Yes |
Scene Composition | Yes | Yes |
Hierarchical Scene Graph | Yes | Yes |
Scene Nodes | Yes | Yes |
Standardized Format | Yes | Yes |
Embedded Textures | No | Yes |
Multiple UV Channels | Yes | Yes |
Normal Mapping | Yes | Partial2 |
Procedural Textures | Yes | No |
Texture Compression | No | Partial3 |
Texture Transforms | Yes | Yes |
Texturing | Yes | Yes |
Limitations of USD Files to PRC/U3D Conversion Workflow
The following limitations should be taken into account when converting USD files to PRC/U3D format:
USD Feature (not supported by PRC/U3D) | Limitation Details |
---|---|
Procedural Textures | Procedural Textures Support: USD: Full support | PRC/U3D: No support ![]() ![]() Impact: Procedural texture allow the modeling of surface details through mathematical functions, along with artistic control over various parameters. Typically, they are used for patterns like wood grain or other semi-regular structures. Since they are not using any pixels as source data, procedural textures have, in principle, infinite resolution and are very lightweight to describe. In this example, a procedural texture is used to model the look of a wooden material. Without support for this feature, in this case, the wooden parts won't show any visible details. |
Normal Mapping | Normal Mapping Support: USD: Full support | PRC/U3D: Partial support ![]() ![]() PRC/U3D Notes: Limited normal mapping support Impact: Normal maps are used to model shading differences that are arising from small geometric details on a surface, such as fabric structures, visible gaps between bricks forming a wall, or rough rock surfaces. In this example, a normal map is used to model a fabric structure. Without support for this feature, the rendered fabric will look smoother than it actually is in the real world, as the fabric structure won't be visible. |
PBR Materials | PBR Materials Support: USD: Full support | PRC/U3D: No support ![]() ![]() Impact: PBR materials enable Physically-Based-Rendering (PBR) for a standardized, photorealistic look of rendered images. PBR uses concepts like metallic-roughness or specular-glossiness properties and a microfacet-based modeling of the surface, using a concept called BRDF (Bi-Directional Reflectance Distribution Function). In this example, PBR materials are used to achieve realistic looking plastic and metal materials. Without support for PBR materials, only basic colors and shading can be used (for example, based on more simple shading models, such as the Blinn/Phong model). |
Skinned Animations | Skinned Animations Support: USD: Full support | PRC/U3D: Partial support ![]() ![]() PRC/U3D Notes: Basic skeletal animation support in U3D Impact: Skinned animations are commonly used for 3D character models in interactive applications, such as games or virtual worlds. They make it possible to easily animate the 3D model using a helper structure based on virtual bones, composing a virtual skeleton for animation control. In this example, a skinned animation is used to pose a 3D character. Without support for skinned animations, the 3D model will remain in its default pose, such as the default T-pose. |
Morph Targets | Morph Targets Support: USD: Full support | PRC/U3D: Partial support ![]() ![]() PRC/U3D Notes: Simple morphing capabilities Impact: Morph Targets, or "Blend Shapes", are commonly used to animate facial expressions and soft surfaces, for example cloth under a cloth simulation. They model various states of the animations with different vertex positions. In contrast to skinned animations, morph targets do not use any virtual bones, but work solely on the vertex data. In this example, a facial animation is achieved through morph targets. Without suport for this feature, in this example, the face will not show the animation. |
What's the best way to get USD files into my 3D applications, and are there alternatives to using PRC/U3D?
Doing 3D conversion right, especially at scale, can be tricky, as 3D data is in general a rather complex (yet very powerful!) medium. This also applies to USD and PRC/U3D files - the conversion guide above provides a rough first idea about that. Once you know what you would like to do, tools like RapidPipeline can help you perform the necessary steps, and to even automate the process for thousands or even millions of files.
Especially when introducing pipelines and workflows at scale in an enterprise context, it is usually good to rely on dedicated tools and expertise, making sure you do not introduce any steps into your 3D workflow that are detrimental to the final output's quality, or that take your team too much time (and money).
If you're interested to hire dedicated expertise from the best in the field to help your company reach your goals fast and reliably, please do not hestitate to contact DGG. Being the creators of RapidPipeline, and ambassadors for open 3D standards for more than a decade, we have been building some of the world's most advanced 3D pipelines, having processed many millions of 3D assets.
Therefore, our expertise will help you to reach your goals faster, at scale, and with the least possible friction, since we are focused on maximum interoperability.
To get started with 3D data conversion and optimization today, sign up for a free account!
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